World Champion Peter Wright Leads the Line-up at World Matchplay
World Champion Peter Wright goes on the major trail following an outstanding Summer Series, where he topped the Order of Merit over five days consecutive play. The flamboyant fifty-year-old has revolutionised the sport in so many ways, none more so than his superhero stage presence and innate ability to change his darts at the drop of a hat.
Peter Wright said "I've never loved my darts more than I have right now and although we've been through the hardest period of darts, I’m still so pumped to be World Champion and grateful to be playing at the highest level, and I’m relishing getting stuck in at the Matchplay albeit facing arguably one of my toughest ever first round matches against Jose de Sousa."
Peter plays Jose de Sousa in the opening round of the World Matchplay at the Marshall Arena on Sunday evening, making his 8th consecutive appearance at the TV major.
Back-to-Back Grand Slam Champion Gerwyn “The Iceman” Price comes into the tournament as number 3 seed and also faces a tough game against Danny Noppert on Monday night.
The Iceman said "The Summer Series was a real eye opener and has given me some great match preparation ahead of the Matchplay, it's going to be so strange not playing in front of a passionate Winter Gardens crowd, but I’ll be looking to feed off my own game and keep myself pumped up to go deep into the tournament."
Jonny Clayton and Jamie Hughes both open their tournaments on Sunday's session, facing Michael Smith and Mensur Suljovic respectively at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
Full coverage of the World Matchplay will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and around the world via the PDC's global broadcast partners.
2020 Betfred World Matchplay
Schedule of play - all times BST
Saturday July 18 (1800)
5x First Round Matches
Simon Whitlock v Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade v Keegan Brown
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson v Justin Pipe
Sunday July 19 (1800)
5x First Round Matches
Mensur Suljovic v Jamie Hughes
Glen Durrant v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Rob Cross v Gabriel Clemens
Peter Wright v Jose De Sousa
Michael Smith v Jonny Clayton
Monday July 20 (1800)
5x First Round Matches
Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
Ian White v Joe Cullen
Daryl Gurney v Ricky Evans
Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert
Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton
Tuesday July 21 (1800)
1x First Round, 4x Second Round Matches
Nathan Aspinall v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Smith/Clayton v Suljovic/Hughes
Anderson/Pipe v Wade/Brown
Van Gerwen/Dolan v Whitlock/Joyce
Cross/Clemens v Ratajski/Wattimena
Wednesday July 22 (1900)
4x Second Round Matches
Gurney/Evans v Chisnall/Van der Voort
Aspinall/Van den Bergh v White/Cullen
Wright/De Sousa v Durrant/De Zwaan
Price/Noppert v Lewis/Beaton
Thursday July 23 (1900)
2x Quarter-Finals
Friday July 24 (1900)
2x Quarter-Finals
Saturday July 25 (2000)
Semi-Finals
Sunday July 26 (2030)
Final